Young adults have a lot to deal with. Between self-discovery, peer pressure, and navigating the challenges of adulthood, being true to yourself and how you express that truth is important.

Come As You Are is a new comedy that’s centered on three physically challenged friends who travel to a “special needs” brothel in Montreal hoping to lose their virginity. Scotty (Grant Rosenmeyer), Matt (Hayden Szeto) and Mo (Ravi Patel) leave their overbearing families and inhibitions behind as they travel to Canada with their nurse-driver Sam (Gabourey Sidibie) for a road trip like no other.

At Left: Gabourey Sidibe (Sam), Matt (Hayden Szeto), Scotty (Grant Rosenmeyer), and Mo (Ravi Patel)

The characters really develop on the trip as the horned-up Scotty and Sam don’t see eye-to-eye, but the two have a semi-sibling appeal as they bicker back and forth. However, Sam develops an unforeseen romance with Mo, which adds to the film’s warm playfulness.

Come As You Are is directed by Richard Wong, and the film premiered during the 2019 SXSW Film Festival. During the festival, I spoke with Empire star Sidibe about her role in the film.

JMG: How did you prepare for this role? 
Gabourey Sidibe:  I don’t know, she’s kinda close to me, and so I’ve probably been preparing my whole life. She’s got a filthy mouth. She’s tasked to take care of people, and as a black woman, I’ve been programmed to do that my whole life.

More than anything, I had to take a break because I shoot Empire for nine months of the year. And my character is Becky. And it’s been five years and nine months of being Becky. So, I needed a break because Becky is different from Sam. So what I needed was a little break to get Becky out of me to allow Sam to come in, if that makes sense.

What do you hope people take away from the film? 
Honestly, my favorite part of the film is that it tells the story of people whose story would not be told otherwise. And so, I hope that people take away the idea that you can search for stories that are not your own because we learn from them and we grow from them.

Your pet peeve in the movie was when Scotty called you “Sweetie.” Do you have any real-life pet peeves? 
Oh, I hate it when I meet someone for the first time and they call me the wrong name. And I hate when people nickname me immediately. Yes, I tell people that my name is Gabourey, but I introduce myself as Gabby unless I don’t like you, then its Gabourey. But when people are like, “Hey Gab,” I’m like bitch we just met, what are you doing? Let me tell you when I’m “Gab.” It’s a little weird, but I have a million pet peeves.

Do you think people will see people with disabilities in a different light after watching this film?
I think we tend to look at people who don’t look like us, as not being people, and just as their disability, or whatever makes them different. And so I hope that we’re taught (from the film) that people are just people no matter what their disabilities are or their challenges. It doesn’t matter what they are. They are still people. So I hope that people start treating people like people. I mean, it’s the worst. I’m on social media, and people just forget that I’m a real human being with emotions and feelings. You can’t talk to me that way because you wouldn’t do it to my face. But I think the further social media goes, the further away from humanity we get. Films like this really show the humanity in everyone, and we need more of it because we’re losing it.

How did you feel about the love story in the film? 
Yes, that was really cute. My best friend from high school, if she saw this movie, would gag. Because I used to write my own fanfiction where I would be in love with someone who was deaf, or someone who was vision-impaired or blind, and so she’s going to watch this movie and be like, obviously. But honestly, it’s really good to show different relationships in general. That’s really fun.

Are you working on any other movies or projects?
I’m always working on something. I’m very blessed.